Psychobunny

There are a few things about the new house that I hate. Overall, I love it and we are very happy here. But there are just a few things that I absolutely hate and that I feel truly decrease value. For some reason, there are people in my "circle" that are trying to talk me out of changing these things. I have no idea why as I think they are obvious changes that need to happen. Maybe because they are fairly large projects?

Anyway, it drives me nuts that it has been repeatedly suggested my ideas are ridiculous. But, since I'm the one that has to live here, I'm making the changes. However, have you ever noticed the smallest, stupidest thing can halt a project?

For example, I have a beautiful weeping willow that dominates the backyard. This is really a stunning tree that truly gives the backyard "curb appeal" (if a backyard can have curb appeal). The tree is just starting to bloom for Spring. Trust me, in the summer, it is very dramatic.

Now for some reason, someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to put this ugly shed right under the willow tree. Prime real estate in the yard. It should have a lovely seating area. This is a huge shed. I could park a small car in it. This would be the first thing I hate and want to change.

When I first moved in I had terrible trouble with hobo spiders. I suspect they are living between this shed and the fence. It is only about 5 inches back there and it is full of leaf debris. Perfect spider condo. Now that it is warming up again I am afraid they will come back. So now I have two great reasons to get rid of the hideous shed.

Oh wait, make that three reasons. This is the view from my bedroom. The master bedroom. Attractive...non?

Step one is to move everything being stored in the shed to the garage. And since I hate going in the shed (see above spider problem) I don't have much in there. This means I need to get an organization system in the garage. No problem, I have plenty of room for shelving. Which brings us to something else I hate about the house.

Some genius took a couple salvaged kitchen cabinets and put them up on the wall in the garage. Maybe it sounded like a good idea but in practice...it bites. It isn't enough room to store much (cans of beans, cans of soup?) and they are planted in the middle of the wall making any useful surrounding shelving impossible. It is truly un-storage.

This project accomplishes several goals. I take care of two "hates" in the house. I will have a charming seating/garden area just under the weeping willow. I could be eliminating the hobo spiders. (Have I mentioned the hobo spiders? *shudder* ) And I will have much needed shelving in the garage. The house needs storage space (there is no pantry, not much of a linen closet and no place for appliances or Costco purchases) I believe I'm creating real value in the home.

So why has this project stalled? One stupid screw. One screw in each cupboard will NOT come out. They are dry wall screws but they must be stripped or in mollies or something. They turn but they won't come out. I'm trying to figure out a way to get these off the wall without having to do demo and lose all that dry wall.

Ugh, when I looked at this picture I saw another reason to get rid of the cupboards. They are dark and a good hidey place for more spiders. I had my face in that cupboard working on the screw and never saw that big web.

So the whole big project is stalled. Every once in a while I go out to the garage and stare at the cupboards like that will help get them down. I'm this >< close to just taking a sledge hammer to them. So suggestions are welcome.

Chickadee update: The chickadees have made their home in the gutter. I don't know if they have laid eggs yet, I was hearing noise like there were chicks but I never saw any baby birds. I took a quick picture in the gutter but I don't see any birds.

The end of the gutter is about two feet from my kitchen window and both chickadee papa and mama sit there and watch me in the kitchen. They don't look afraid or threatened; just curious.

They are probably wondering when I'm going to get rid of that shed!

Posted by TheBunny at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I would say I've been working like a dog, but in my house, working like a dog looks like this:

So I'll just say I've been working like the cat/dog handmaiden that I am and have made some serious progress. I'm ready to start inviting people into the home. Which is good since I've completely neglected everyone. I'm going to have to take out a small loan for all the dinners I owe everyone.

One project resulted in two storage solutions, answered the challenge of a style conflict and it cost me less than $5. Now that is bang for the buck.

Let me introduce the dresser:

I never liked this dresser. It wasn't big enough for clothing storage but was really too big to be in the living room and not look like a piece of bedroom furniture, the drawers didn't pull in and out easily and the top drawer tilted upward unattractively. And there was just something about how it looked that I didn't like.

A couple of weekends ago, I was faced with a pile of books in the garage that needed to go inside but I was maxed out on shelf room. With all the vet bills we have had lately (about $2500 in the last two months, ouch!) and with, well, buying a HOUSE and all, my disposable cash is tight to say the least. (please don't make me eat any more toasted cheese and tomato soup dinners!)

I found myself staring at the dresser. It was taking up space but not providing any real function. This is not meeting my criteria for things that live in my house. The scale is right for the living room and I liked the color, I liked the top and the sides but it was the drawer fronts I really wasn't loving.

This had once been probably a very attractive piece but at some point (probably the 70s) someone glued those panels on the front of the drawers and replaced the drawer hardware with these really cheap and flimsy handles that were insufficient for pulling the heavy drawers in and out. It was also a quality piece of furniture. Here is a very blurry picture of the drawer joins:

This is good stuff. No staples. So I pulled out the drawers to assess what I had inside.

First I can see the reason for the tilting drawers and trouble pulling them in and out. All of the guides on the right side are broken. Only one was lying at the bottom of the dresser so I couldn't even fix it easily. Instead, I opted to bust out one of the front bars, replace the one guide and make a shelf that sits across the front bar and guides and voila!

Storage solution #1 solved. Books have been moved from the garage into the house. Plus, these tall books were always a hassle on standard bookshelves but fit in here nicely. Even taller books (like the atlas) can rest on its side in the bottom space. Cost of this was less than three dollars for the shelf wood. (which I promise will be stained to match soon)

The drawers? I couldn't bring myself to toss them because, aside from the hideous front panel, I thought they were really lovely. Especially those sides with that scalloped join.

Remember the dreaded office? That pit of despair and horror? (and no, I'm not one of those crazy people who live with stacks of junk in their homes, I just moved and emptied a storage space) Prepare to clutch your pearls and gasp, but this is what it looked like before:

This is what it looks like after (same angle of the same area in the room):

And what is that on the walls serving very nicely as attractive shelving? The drawers. Hideous panel side down and beautiful scallop join out. Storage solution #2. All my note cards have a home and show off their pretty boxes as well as all my knitting notions/needles and small knitting/tea books. Cost was a little over a dollar for mollies and screws to fasten the drawers shelves to the wall.

I solved another storage solution (other than pillaging stray pieces of furniture). All my project bags were piled up in the closet and on the top shelf. Now, they have been strung up on the clothing bar. They take up a lot less room and are much easier to access. This will make it much easier for a purge. Some of these projects have languished in bags for three years. I think it is safe to say I have fallen out of love with them.

I also need someone to please help me get rid of all the books and research material I accumulated while working on my master's thesis. I haven't looked at them in a year but they were the end all/be all of my existence at one point in my life so it is really hard to just chuck them.

The cat has taken over the office so I know it has met a high standard of approval. Yes, I know that three months ago this cat was living in the street. But trust me, all cats have high standards from birth.

The really exciting part for me is that I am one flat surface (my bedroom dresser top) away from having all three bedrooms clean and functional! Great googly-moogly someone mark this day.

Posted by TheBunny at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)